South Korea’s antitrust regulator likely to take action against Google over allegations of bundling YouTube’s music services

Seoul, July 8: South Korea’s antitrust regulator is expected to take criminal action against Google over allegations that the company unfairly bundled YouTube’s music service with its premium subscription program, officials said on Monday.

The tech giant has been accused of offering its ad-free YouTube Music streaming service to YouTube Premium users at no extra charge, in violation of the Fair Trading Act, and has been under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) since February of last year. Google Pixel 9 series launches on August 13. Check out expected specs and features.

After a months-long investigation, the FTC recently submitted a review report that calls for punitive measures against Google before a decision is made at a planned plenary session, Yonhap News Agency reported. Officials said the investigation focused on whether Google abused its dominant market position by implementing the practice and whether it restricted fair competition in the industry. YouTube feature update: Google-owned video-sharing platform improves “Erase Song” tool to remove copyrighted music without affecting audio quality; check details.

Some have noted that bundling has helped YouTube grow its subscriber base, while in the process limiting consumer choice and unfairly hampering other streaming services. “We are working to complete our investigation and other necessary proceedings in July and make a final decision within weeks,” an FTC official said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 08, 2024 01:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com.)